Last time I wrote about Interviewing for Information as a resource in your career decision-making. It is important that you approach those meetings, whether in person or by phone, in the same professional manner as you would an employment interview. You should, of course, prepare your questions in advance and have them written down (or typed and printed). One reason to consider typing them is because, depending on your handwriting, it will probably leave a better impression. Long ago, I was meeting with a young man who was interviewing me and he had written his questions out - only he had a hard time reading what he had written. I guess he had written them rather hurriedly and used some abbreviations that he couldn't quite remember, which of course, did not impress me.
So, some questions to consider for your informational interviews:
1. How would you describe your "typical" day?
2. What are the biggest obstacles you face in trying to do your job?
3. Which skills do you use most often in your work?
4. What personal traits are most helpful to you in doing your work?
5. How did you begin your career in ________?
6. Are there particular suggestions you have for an aspiring _______?
7. How extensive is your interaction with ___________?
8. If you had it to do over, would you pursue this same field, or go a different direction? Or prepare for it differently?
9. Do you see opportunities in this field increasing - or is this field limited in terms of the kinds of organizations where one could work?
10. What is the typical educational background of people in this field? Are there specific experiences that would make me most qualified to work as a _________?
Other good questions can be worded to indicate you have done some homework - for example, I read where the National Association for __________ is involved in ____. Is there ___(local activity...)____? OR, I saw where the __________ meets on the second Tuesday of the month. Are those meetings open and do you think it might be beneficial for me to attend one?
Generally, you would also want to ask if they can recommend one or two other people you could talk to regarding your interest in that field. It is also a good idea to ask if you can use their name when you contact anyone they suggest.
Depending on the amount of time you have been given, you may only have the opportunity to ask a three or four questions, but it is better to have more questions than you will need. That also gives you the flexibility to ask some different questions depending on the direction the interview takes.
In my next blog entry, I will add some additional comments about interviewing for information.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, grief work, coping with an empty nest, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person and on-line. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association; a Life/Work Counselor (L/WC) by the National Employment Counseling Association; and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com.
To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Interviewing For Information
Interviewing for information is a wonderful way to learn more about an occupation that you are considering. Whether you are deciding on a major in college, planning to make a career change, or looking for volunteer ideas, I encourage you to do some research, including informational interviews. As I mentioned in last week's blog, I do encourage you to do some reading first so you have at least some basic information about the occupation(s) in which you have interest, but reading alone will not usually provide the same sense about the work that you could get in informational interviews.
When you interview for information, your goal should not be to get a job offer, but to learn more about a particular occupation. In an ideal situation, though, it may allow you to make a connection with a person who might work for a prospective employer or someone you would otherwise like to add to your network of contacts. The purpose of interviewing for information is to do just that, talk to someone who has information that could be useful to you - information about a particular career/occupation, a particular industry, or a particular organization. You may have an opportunity to discuss your transferable skills with someone who is doing the kind of work you would like to do. It can also serve as a test of your interviewing skills, in preparation for a job search.
Of course, you will need to identify people in the line of work in which you are interested. It may help to ask people you know if they know anyone you might wish to interview. Generally, your initial contact is through a letter introducing yourself, explaining what you would like, and indicating when you will follow-up. Some people prepare a script to help them through the follow-up and you want to be sure to prepare your questions before the interview. If at all possible, you would like to meet the person at their place of work and have at least 15 to 30 minutes to talk.
Following the interview, you should send a thank-you note to the individual. If the two of you made a real connection, you may offer to keep in touch and let them know how you are progressing. It is also a good idea to review your performance to determine if there is anything you need to do differently next time.
Look for my next blog entry for some potential questions you may want to ask when you are conducting your interviews for information.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, coping with an empty nest, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person in Cincinnati and on-line. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor (L/WC) by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com for more information.
To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
When you interview for information, your goal should not be to get a job offer, but to learn more about a particular occupation. In an ideal situation, though, it may allow you to make a connection with a person who might work for a prospective employer or someone you would otherwise like to add to your network of contacts. The purpose of interviewing for information is to do just that, talk to someone who has information that could be useful to you - information about a particular career/occupation, a particular industry, or a particular organization. You may have an opportunity to discuss your transferable skills with someone who is doing the kind of work you would like to do. It can also serve as a test of your interviewing skills, in preparation for a job search.
Of course, you will need to identify people in the line of work in which you are interested. It may help to ask people you know if they know anyone you might wish to interview. Generally, your initial contact is through a letter introducing yourself, explaining what you would like, and indicating when you will follow-up. Some people prepare a script to help them through the follow-up and you want to be sure to prepare your questions before the interview. If at all possible, you would like to meet the person at their place of work and have at least 15 to 30 minutes to talk.
Following the interview, you should send a thank-you note to the individual. If the two of you made a real connection, you may offer to keep in touch and let them know how you are progressing. It is also a good idea to review your performance to determine if there is anything you need to do differently next time.
Look for my next blog entry for some potential questions you may want to ask when you are conducting your interviews for information.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, coping with an empty nest, and other life planning issues. She meets with individuals in person in Cincinnati and on-line. Mary Ann is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor (L/WC) by the National Employment Counseling Association, and is a distance Credentialed Counselor (DCC). Please visit her web site at www.YourCareerPlan.com for more information.
To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
What Do You Know About the World of Work?
I have done a fair amount of academic advising during my lifetime and yet I continue to be surprised when I ask a student about their major and why they chose it. More often than I would expect, students do not have a great deal of knowledge about what they could do in the world of work with their major or what the work they are preparing for is really like. Some of the clients I work with in my counseling practice have the same kind of response when I ask why they chose the major they selected.
So, when I am working with my clients who are looking at making a career change, in addition to doing a self-assessment, I encourage them to do some research on the work they plan to pursue or are considering. I believe it is vitally important if you are considering a job or career change, to consider how much you know about the kind of work you choose to pursue - preferably before you begin to prepare for it. There is a reference book published from the government called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). The DOT contains brief descriptions on approximately 20,000 jobs. Obviously, that is more jobs than any one needs to know about, but it would probably be good to be pretty comfortable with the amount of information you have about the kind of work you are planning to pursue - especially if it requires continuing your education or obtaining other training. Another publication I refer clients to is the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). It has only a few hundred occupational clusters, but much more information than the DOT on each of those clusters. Since it comes from the Department of Labor, it does include some national salary figures, as well as brief descriptions of the work, companies who employee people to do that kind of work, and more.
Both of those books are generally available only in the Reference section of the library, but both are now also online. You can access the information from the DOT through O*NET at http://www.onetcenter.org/. The online version of the OOH is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/. How much information you want to have depends on you, but it is good to have some sense of general requirements for the position and demands of the job, as well as availability, average salary, whether or not jobs are fairly available within your travel distance, and if the demand for that type of work is increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable. Much of that information could be found by doing research - reading books or online at one of many sites with job information.
I also encourage my clients to do some informational interviews where they talk to people who are doing the kind of work they would like to do. If it is possible to visit a person's place of work, that is even better, but at least having an opportunity to get a sense of the job from someone else's standpoint could be helpful - and getting viewpoints from a few different people would be even better to have. You would tap some of your networking resources to set up interviews, but look for the next blog entry for more on informational interviews.
By comparing what you know about you with what you know about the world of work, you can look for areas of overlap and are more likely to be able to plan for a new career direction (or first career direction) that will be a good fit for you. With actual information related to your decision, you do not have to make so much of a guess, but would have some basis for making decisions about your career direction.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, coping with an empty nest, and other life planning issues. She is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor (L/WC) by the National Employment Counseling Association; and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor. Please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/ for more information.
To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
So, when I am working with my clients who are looking at making a career change, in addition to doing a self-assessment, I encourage them to do some research on the work they plan to pursue or are considering. I believe it is vitally important if you are considering a job or career change, to consider how much you know about the kind of work you choose to pursue - preferably before you begin to prepare for it. There is a reference book published from the government called the Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT). The DOT contains brief descriptions on approximately 20,000 jobs. Obviously, that is more jobs than any one needs to know about, but it would probably be good to be pretty comfortable with the amount of information you have about the kind of work you are planning to pursue - especially if it requires continuing your education or obtaining other training. Another publication I refer clients to is the Occupational Outlook Handbook (OOH). It has only a few hundred occupational clusters, but much more information than the DOT on each of those clusters. Since it comes from the Department of Labor, it does include some national salary figures, as well as brief descriptions of the work, companies who employee people to do that kind of work, and more.
Both of those books are generally available only in the Reference section of the library, but both are now also online. You can access the information from the DOT through O*NET at http://www.onetcenter.org/. The online version of the OOH is available from the Bureau of Labor Statistics at http://www.bls.gov/. How much information you want to have depends on you, but it is good to have some sense of general requirements for the position and demands of the job, as well as availability, average salary, whether or not jobs are fairly available within your travel distance, and if the demand for that type of work is increasing, decreasing, or remaining stable. Much of that information could be found by doing research - reading books or online at one of many sites with job information.
I also encourage my clients to do some informational interviews where they talk to people who are doing the kind of work they would like to do. If it is possible to visit a person's place of work, that is even better, but at least having an opportunity to get a sense of the job from someone else's standpoint could be helpful - and getting viewpoints from a few different people would be even better to have. You would tap some of your networking resources to set up interviews, but look for the next blog entry for more on informational interviews.
By comparing what you know about you with what you know about the world of work, you can look for areas of overlap and are more likely to be able to plan for a new career direction (or first career direction) that will be a good fit for you. With actual information related to your decision, you do not have to make so much of a guess, but would have some basis for making decisions about your career direction.
Mary Ann Davis is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in private practice providing coaching and counseling for life's transitions; including career change or job search, as well as loss of job, retirement planning, coping with an empty nest, and other life planning issues. She is certified as a Master Career Counselor (MCC) by the National Career Development Association, a Life/Work Counselor (L/WC) by the National Employment Counseling Association; and is a Distance Credentialed Counselor. Please visit her web site at http://www.yourcareerplan.com/ for more information.
To contact Mary Ann, please call (513) 665-4444 x3 and leave a personal and confidential message or send an email to YourCareerPlan@cinci.rr.com.
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